


Echo: Reach Out

by CheckerFox



Category: Echo (Visual Novel 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Echo - Freeform, Echo Spoilers, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Pre-Echo, Route 65, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:14:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26047096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheckerFox/pseuds/CheckerFox
Summary: With one small action, the lives of six children in the town of Echo are changed forever. With the death of their friend, Chase, the group must either learn to move on, or suffer in the past forever.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Switch

It seemed like such a simple day. Such a simple day where nothing could go wrong. Even in the town of Echo, things were peaceful.

The seven children were all at the lake. Such a strange lake for people to really be recreational at, what with the slightly dirty water, as well as the mud in place of sand, but the children didn’t care. It was hot, and they have had enough water balloon fights.

An otter, fennec, and wolf were skipping stones out. However, the otter quickly got bored, and decided to go out to swim where he hadn’t before.

“Chase! Not in the way of the rocks! You’re gonna get hit!” yelled the wolf, the otter didn’t care, and this only made him more determined to swim there.

Chase didn’t care what Leo or Jenna told him. He was curious as to what Toby and Sydney were doing, and if he could surprise them in any way.

“I pop out of the water, and I scare ‘em!” thought the otter, and his decision was made. He looked around underneath the water, for the familiar shapes of Toby and Sydney, and he soon found them.

In the shallows.

Sydney was holding Toby slightly under the water, that familiar, strange expression plastered over his face. That expression that was blank, yet showed a slight intrigue in what he was doing. The same expression when he would torment Toby.

Toby, every now and then, would begin to thrash about, screaming at Sydney to stop. Sydney wouldn’t. There wasn’t anyone around to stop him. Not Leo, not Jenna, nobody.

Chase torpedoed himself towards the two, and quickly shot out of the water to stop Sydney. Sydney fell back, and Toby ran off, where to, he didn’t know. Sydney’s face turned into one of shock.

“C’mon Chase, it was just a prank!”. Sydney tried to reason with Chase, telling him it was all in good fun, but to no luck. Soon enough the two otters were at it, and Chase would soon throw a punch straight to Sydney. He meant to only hit him in the chest, but he missed, and hit Sydney’s throat instead.

Sydney’s hands shot to his neck as he began to gasp for air, giving out a massive cough in response. Chase then tackled Sydney to the ground, and held his head underwater.

Soon, a struggle.

Air bubbles rising out fast, as Sydney was trying to fight out of Chase’s grasp.

Chase felt a dark pleasure in seeing Sydney like this. This is payback for all the times he hurt Toby with his “pranks”.

Chase didn’t even notice his face get the same expression Sydney had not even moments ago.

However, just as he thought he had Sydney restrained, Chase felt something hard come crashing in his gut. He soon came toppling over into the water. Sydney rose out, finally free from Chase’s grasp after he kicked him

Now it was his head under the water.

Sydney’s grip was tight, tighter than his.

Air bubbles rose to the surface once again.

Two otters once again. One under the water, one above.

Sydney saw as Chase struggled, just like he did.

This is payback for all the horrible rumors that Chase spread about him. He never shot his father. His father shot himself. Now everyone thinks he’s some sociopathic kid who deserved the treatment he got at home.

He never wanted that, and now he feels distant to all of the group. Left out.

The air bubbles lowered in count, and Chase’s chaotic struggling movements slowed down.

Some bubbles.

…

…

...

Few bubbles.

…

…

…

No bubbles.

Chase did not move any more, and Sydney backed away. His hands were shaking. He couldn't believe what Chase had just done. What he had just done.

“Syd!” called out a familiar voice. It was the gila, Flynn, the only one who Sydney ever felt comfortable around. The only person he could really talk to.

Sydney soon swam back to the shoreline, where the rest of the group was, after they all heard the chaos happening. All of their eyes wide, and for some, who were somewhere else at the lake at the time, were breathing heavily, clearly exhausted from the effort to try to catch up to everyone else.

Sydney ran over to them, crying. He became a trembling mess, and nearly fell into Flynn, who instantly caught him.

“Chase… he-” mumbled Sydney. The otter could not bear to fully recount the story to them, he was scared.

“Chase what, Syd? What happened?”. Leo was frantic, as Chase was the one he was most close to in the group.

“Chase, he… he tried to drown me!” shouted Sydney. Leo, alongside the others were all taken aback by this. Sydney tried to recount the story, making frantic hand motions to what Chase was doing as he was holding his head underwater.

Leo looked around for any sign of Chase, and didn’t see him.

“Where is he? We need to talk to him, now!” the wolf clearly didn’t believe Sydney, and would instead want to hear what Chase had to say. After several questions from the group- minus Toby, who was still missing- all Sydney did was shake his head at the mention of if he saw Chase anywhere before heading back to shore.

“Mierda, MIERDA!” Leo was getting angry, he wanted to know where Chase was, as he felt himself to be the watchful eye of the group.

Sydney couldn’t help himself anymore, and he felt a moisture well up in his eyes. He went up to Flynn, who was trying to comfort him and calm him down, and hugged him. He didn’t want to face what had just happened to him. He didn’t want to face what he just did. He didn’t want any of this.

However, he felt something call out to him, and he turned his head towards the water.

Sydney looked out to Lake Emma, and that is when he saw him.

Chase’s body soon rose to the surface, and all he did was stare up at the sky.

Just stare.


	2. Deep Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks have passed since Chase Hunter drowned in Lake Emma, now, Sydney must attend the funeral of the person who attempted to drown him.

Sydney didn’t like being forced to go places.

It reminds him of his father, and that was something he would rather forget. The memories of all the forced hunting trips where he would promptly get screamed at echo through his mind. Now he’s forced to go to another place, this time by his mother.

Since that fateful day, his mother had him keep his distance from the others, and he was stuck to a strict curfew. Out at 8 AM to take the bus to school, and can only go outside when he was given permission, and if he could, he could only go to specific areas his mother approved.

And now Sydney was forced to go to the funeral of all things. Chase Hunter’s funeral. The thought alone created a lump in Sydney’s throat. He didn’t like Chase much, and the events from two weeks ago did not leave the best final impression of the other otter in his mind.

Walking into the funeral home only made the mood worse. The initial quiet silence of the room, as well as the quiet sobs of some people, soon deafened by the sudden outburst of crying from Chase’s mother, who frequently buried her face into her husband’s embrace. The sweltering heat of midday in Echo did not make the feeling any better, especially with the stuffy formal clothing he was wearing.

Sydney just wanted to go back home to watch his wrestling videos on T.V.

Sydney was soon met by Flynn, who had been standing near the center of the room. The Gila had a melancholic expression plastered over his face. Only slightly lit up at the sight of Sydney.

“Hey…” Flynn’s voice showed more of this melancholic nature. “So… this is happening… isn’t it…?”.

“Yeah…” Sydney hadn’t much to say, only short responses to what Flynn told him.  _ “What could I even say?” _ he thought to himself,  _ “It’s a funeral.” _

“Hey, uh, where’s Carl?” Sydney looked around for the ram almost soon after he initially saw Flynn, but there was no trace of him anywhere.

“Gah, you just missed him. He started breathing heavily and was soon led out by his parents. Kid probably couldn’t take it and got a panic attack.” Flynn, as he said that, looked past Sydney to try to see any sign of Carl, but to no luck.

Sydney wanted to say something, he wanted to do something to even slightly light up the mood, but he was soon led away by his mother’s grip. Something to do with wanting to pay respects? Sydney didn’t know, since he wasn’t paying attention, but he didn’t want to pay attention. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t even want to be in Echo anymore. All this town has for him are rotten memories.

Rotten memories, and rotten people.

As he and his mother walked up to the front of the room, where the coffin and picture board were, Sydney heard a familiar voice, one that was sobbing quietly, as though he didn’t want to be heard. It was Toby.

“Dear Lord, please let Chase be in a better place. Let him be up there with the angels.” The lynx’s prayers were interrupted with him sniffling, as he found it hard to hold his tears in.

Sydney sighed, clearly not wanting to talk to him, but that hope was soon dashed when Toby got up and turned around. The lynx nearly jumped when he saw Sydney.

“AH! Oh, hi… Sydney….” The lynx only looked down at the floor and held his hand to his forearm. He always did that whenever he was nervous, and for Toby, he was always nervous when he’s around Sydney.

“Hey, Teej.” Sydney and the others always used Teej as his nickname, that and TJ. 

“I-uh… I was just here to pay my respects, and to pray for Chase to be in Heaven…” Toby stumbles over his words, finding it hard to find the right words. Sydney only nodded and made a grunt, not knowing what to say to him either. Usually, at times, Sydney would crack a messed up joke, or pull one of his signature “pranks” on Toby, to try to lighten the mood, but this time, and ever since two weeks ago, he never felt the desire to do anything.

“Well I-uh, I need to… go. I wanna go talk to her.” The lynx pointed over to a table, where the familiar look of a fennec turned to look at the two of them. Jenna. 

Sydney never got along with Jenna. She would always tell him off whenever he pulled one of his pranks, and would, according to him and Flynn, always baby Toby. She’s one of the few people he hasn’t met up with at all since the incident, and she was one of the few people who doubted his story of Chase’s attempt at drowning him, thinking it of some kind of “new low” for his humor. That was until she finally saw Chase with her own eyes, and she was talking to a larger red wolf, who’s eyes were slightly reddened from tears. Leo.

Only a slight cant to the side, and a glance. That’s all Leo was able to do before looking away. At least, until Sydney sighed and turned away, and that’s when he heard the sound of Jenna and Toby being led towards him. He also heard Flynn walking towards him as well. With this, the group is all together, at the front of the room. Sydney feels himself being pulled into a group hug with Toby, Jenna, and Leo. At this point, he feels the large wolf trembling.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry….” The wolf’s words aren’t slurred, as he fights back tears. “I should have protected you all. I should have been watching all of you!”

Leo, out of all of them, took Chase’s death the hardest, as he was a close friend of his, alongside Jenna. What Leo’s doing now, is just as Sydney remembered from two weeks ago. Once reality set in at the lake, Leo did just the same. He pulled the group into a hug, and could only say that he would always keep a watchful eye on the group and that he would be their “guardian”, so to speak.

For the rest of the group, while in the wolf’s tight grasp, dark thoughts ran through their minds. Chase is dead. Their friend is dead. Gone, and taken away with the tide. Flynn only looked down at the ground, in deep, depressing thought. Leo, finally let loose his emotions, and finally, let himself cry with the rest of the group. Toby, as he would, was already crying at this point. Jenna found tears starting to well up too. Sydney, however, was different.

Sydney didn’t feel anything.

“ _ You wanted this. _ ” He thought to himself. He quickly shook the idea out of his head. He couldn’t have, right? It was all in self-defense! If he didn’t defend himself, Chase would have… Sydney would have…

The rest of the afternoon was spent in mourning of Chase’s passing. All punctuated by the desperate cries of his mother. “Just let me die! I don’t want to live anymore without my son!” Is all they heard until the final bundle of dirt was thrown in his grave.

Sydney still felt nothing.

The crushing weight came down on the group and even the town of Echo as a whole. The population was small, so it felt that much personal when somebody passed on. This, however, felt worse.

It was a  _ kid _ who died, and for the immensely religious population there, the death of a child feels like a dark spot in the town.

Sydney still didn’t feel anything.

Sydney noticed a few passing glances from the other parents there. His family was Mormon, so he always remembers hearing conversations from other kids in school behind his back, as well as adults too. However, Flynn was Mormon too, which he believed to be a reason as to why he connected with him so well. However, even as the others were mourning. He swore he even saw the priest at the ceremony give him and his mother passing glances.

_ “Can this town get worse?” _ Sydney thought to himself.

Even so, with the passing glances and conversations, Sydney didn’t feel anything.

When he was being driven home with his mother, neither of them spoke. Ever since his father’s body was found, the two never really spoke to each other. Yet another wedge that was driven between him and his family.

As they reached their small home, and the sun was setting, Sydney finally felt something. This time, it was like someone was there. This made no sense to him, though, as at this point, his mother already got out of the car and into their small home. He stood there, right outside his mother’s car, and was looking out to the horizon. Then, he heard it...

A clicking? No, just one click. It was like the click of a camera shutter. He even swore he saw a brief flash of light as well. He turned around, but…

Nothing was there…

As Sydney walked inside his house too, one thought stayed and was pushed to the forefront of his mind that entire night.

_ “Chase loved using cameras.” _

With this thought stuck on his mind, Sydney would not get any sleep that night, with thoughts on that fateful day replaying over and over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the positive feedback on chapter 1! Now, this is actually my first time attempting a writing project in this format, so if I make any blunders along the way, be sure to let me know!


	3. On Route

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> November 1st, 2008. Day of the Dead. Sydney misses a phonecall from his mother while on the way home from school.

_1 Missed Call: Mom_

Sydney sighed as he looked at his phone. After what he did this morning, he didn’t want to talk to her right now. He doesn’t care anyway, seeing as if he tried to call her right now, she wouldn’t be picking up. Seeing that the time on his phone read 4:15 PM, he knew his mom would be out of the house.

“What’s the point of even trying to tell her.” Sydney mouthed this to himself, knowing Carl on the seat to his left wouldn’t hear him, too engrossed in whatever Japanese RPG he’s playing on his expensive handheld.

For a long time now, Sydney has been trying to tell his mom that he wants to go to college after he completes high school, but due to his family’s low income, it would only end up being troublesome from the high cost. 

He was fidgeting, flustered, a mess throughout long classes and a test today, and he couldn’t keep his thoughts straight. Not only was he thinking about going to college, but also about something else.

Sydney believed he was gay.

He found it difficult to accept, knowing the town of Echo and how much they frowned on homosexuality. Although once Sydney tried to date a girl to prove to the others he wasn’t gay, he found that he just wasn’t interested in any girl in school, and broke up with her as fast as they hooked up.

Now, knowing that at some point, he needs to tell his mom, frightens him. His family was always strict on him, telling him to go to bed much earlier than the other kids, not letting him watch his wrestling or pirate movies saying they’re “too violent” to watch. He could only imagine his mom’s reaction when she finds out her only son is gay.

All Sydney could do is sigh once again. He knew that the rest of today would be just as unbearably long.

**November 1st, 2008**

_Day of the Dead_

Looking up, he noticed the bus driver finally managed to get a radio signal, as she was fiddling with the radio controls for the last ten minutes, working to find some twangy country station.

“Ugh…” Sydney heard the familiar grunt of the ram in the seat next to him. Carl was more vocal about his disapproval of the song choice than he was.

Usually, several more people would be on the bus with the two of them, but they are the only passengers this time. It made sense to Sydney, as not many other kids other than him, Carl, Jeremy, Clint, Heather, Jasmynn (who prefers to go by Jenna), and TJ live in Echo.

“Why…?” the ram let out another pained sigh at the radio’s song, brow much more furrowed than before. 

The bus driver, Karen, let out some sort of successful chuckle at Carl’s dismay.

“Well, I mean, it’s just you two young’ uns today, so I figured I put on some tunes.” Carl simply lowered himself back into his seat, clearly defeated.

After taking a swig from her soda bottle with one hand, Karen looked back into the mirror, clearly about to say something.

“So I’ve meant to ask you two, what are y’all gonna do after high school?”

She looked between the two of them in the back, and her eyes drift over to Sydney, who immediately straightened up.

“Sydney? You’ve been quieter than a corpse back there. What’re you planning to do once ya graduate?”

Sydney, clearly embarrassed, gave out a flustered answer to the bus driver.

“Well, I uh. My family’s not in the best situation money-wise, but if I could, I kind of want to go into a Marine Biology degree somewhere that offers it.” 

Karen grunted in response.

“And you, Carl? I know your parents do a lot of work. You plannin’ on doing something on your own or doing work with daddy?”

Carl gulped before struggling with an answer.

“Well, it’s my mommy- mom, actually, and I don’t know yet.”

Sydney saw Carl’s cheeks blush slightly before the ram turned to face the window, tugging at his hoodie’s strings to try to hide. He got embarrassed by calling his mom, “mommy.”

“Hmmm, maybe somethin’ techy? You always got that nose of yours in those expensive little do-hickeys of yours.” 

“...I don’t know…” Carl responded quietly. The ram then looked to the side, watching everything pass by on his side of the bus.

Sydney did the same as Carl, looking out the window on his side of the bus, watching as he noticed the old run-down pool go past.

“Ya know I remember when that place was open. Once in the ’60s and again in the ’80s. Was around when all of it was goin’ on.” Sydney just realized that Karen must have seen him looking out at the pool.

“Spoilers, as Keith would say, the place hasn’t opened up since.” The fennec’s head tilts downward slightly after this statement.

“Dang shame, though, by the time you young’ uns are my age, Echo will be long gone. The town’s been going to hell in a handbasket for decades.” She then looks over to Carl, whose face is almost pressing up against the window.

“All except for your mansion, Mr. Hendricks. _The Castle_ , as we used to call it when I was your age.”

Looking out his window again, Sydney notices the skies turn a pale orange as the bus is around a mile away from home. The sun’s always setting by the time he gets home from school, so this is not irregular to him.

His hands get clammy, and he finds it hard to sit still again, frequently looking between the window, Karen, and Carl. He needs to tell someone, anyone who can listen, about how he feels. He just has fears deep down on how people will react to him now.

_The Gay Sailor Otter of Echo_. He cringes at the thought of being treated like that by the entire town, and how it would follow him throughout the rest of high school until college.

_If_ he even goes to college.

He pulls out his phone once again, staring into its black screen. He could contact Jasmynn, who he feels would be the most supportive of this sort of thing, as he knows about the psychology classes she frequently takes as electives, but he also knows how antagonistic she can be to him at times. His mind then drifted to TJ, but then quickly dispelled that thought; TJ was too young and too… “Christian” for him to talk to him about his sexuality, that and the fact that the Lynx was just now starting to get off of the curve of his puberty years. Leo… Sydney didn’t know how Leo would react to the revelation of his homosexuality, as before, the wolf would make the occasional joke about “poofy” stuff. Carl was out of the equation for Sydney, as he finds it impossible to get into “deep” conversations with him since the lake incident. That leaves just one last person in the group Sydney could talk to.

Flynn.

Sydney felt his stomach drop slightly at the thought of talking to Flynn about his sexuality. Every other sentence felt like Flynn had to insert the word “faggot” for some unknown reason. Flynn has been in this “edgy” phase for quite a while now and only seems to snap out of it when talking to Sydney while nobody else is around.

The options all weighed down on Sydney’s mind as his thumb hovered over each of the message logs on his phone. All the otter could do is sigh, close his eyes, randomly tap one of the message logs, and go there.

That _was_ his plan until he felt his phone vibrate.

_New Message from Flynn_

_Flynn: Just got some gorgonzola from the store._

“What?” Sydney got confused as he looked at the message displayed across the screen. He immediately decided to try to respond to it to make sense of what Flynn meant. 

_Sydney: What is that, some kind of shitty porn movie?_

Sydney noticed the distinct shape of Carl’s mansion approach on the horizon.

_Flynn: It’s a fucking salad, you dumbass_.

_Sydney: Anyways, why are you texting me about salad at 5 pm?_

Sydney leans over to his left, to whisper to Carl.

“Hey, is it fine if I get off with you here? I kinda don’t want to be at home right now.”

The ram looked to his right and whispered something back.

“You sure? It can be pretty messy, and Karen’s kinda watching us, ya know.”

Just has Carl said that they felt the bus lurch forward slightly as it reached a stop.

The old fox looks up at the mirror, towards Carl.

“This is where ya get off, Carl, it’s your stop.”

Carl quickly responds to her.

“Sydney is getting off with me.”

“Do you have a note from your parents?” She looks up again, this time her brow furrowing.

Sydney raised his head and waved his hand to get Karen’s attention.

“Yeah, I got it here!”

Almost on queue, Carl began to get a piece of paper out of his bag and write out a note that looked like his mother’s handwriting. Taking a bit too long to write it out, Karen began to get impatient.

“Well..? Do ya got it?”

Sydney began to think of a way to distract the bus driver as long as possible. He then remembered Karen bringing up Keith. 

“Hey, Karen, you mentioned Keith earlier. How is he?”

She quickly responded.

“He’s dead. Well, not necessarily _dead_ , but he’s dead to me.”

“Ah..:”

“He’s gone off to follow his own ‘dreams’ as he said. No idea where he is now.”

With that, Sydney felt a piece of paper flutter down at his feet. It looks like it’s a note from Carl’s mom. It seems that Carl finished his handiwork, and it seems legitimate. Sydney then waved the paper above his head, showing it to Karen.

“I found it, Karen!” As he said this, both he and Carl got out of their seats and made their way out. Carl was first out of the bus, and as Sydney took the first step off, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

“Y'all be good now!” Right as Sydney and Carl stood at the sidewalk, they could see Karen wave to them with the soda bottle still in her hand. She then shut the bus doors and drove off into the sunset.

Remembering his phone vibrating earlier, Sydney pulls it out and checks the screen.

_Flynn: Whoops, meant to send the original text to my aunt._

_Sydney: I see…_

Carl soon chimed in to break the silence.

“Anyways, I’m texting my parents, telling ‘em you’re staying to help ‘work on a project’ with me.” Sydney could see the ram smile out of the corner of his eye as they continued to walk. Carl continued on, talking about what games they could play once they got to his house.

“We could play that 3D Chat game, just got myself a new avatar.”

“How much did you spend to get it?” Sydney responded.

“Not much, only like, 15 dollars. Only got what I needed for it.”

At this point, Sydney phased the conversation with Carl out in his mind, his thoughts drifting again towards his phone, and most importantly, Flynn. While Carl continued to talk, Sydney, however, was not listening, only focusing on his phone.

_Sydney: Well… now that you’re texting me… can I tell you something?_

_Flynn: Yeah, what is it?_

_Sydney: I’m scared to go home tonight… I’ve been thinking about things, and I can’t face mom knowing it…_

_Flynn: What’ve you been thinkin’ about?_

_Flynn: Is it that college shit again?_

_Sydney: No, this is different…_

_Sydney: I’m at Carl’s house right now with him, and we’re gonna hang out tonight. If it’s fine, can you come here? I need to talk to you about this…_

_Flynn: Well, you’re in luck. Was supposed to work freight tonight, but decided to call in “sick” for tonight._

_Sydney: Oh thank you so fucking much, man!_

_Flynn: Hey, if you and I weren’t closer than the others, I would have suggested you talk to Jas. Speaking of her, I’ve been trying to text her for hours now, but can’t get a response. Prolly somethin’ to do with her shitty family._

While small, it felt like a weight was lifted off of Sydney’s shoulders. Then, he thought of how the group was going to think of him. Would they think of him differently? Would they treat him the same? Would everything be like how it was before? Sydney didn’t know, and the thought of them not accepting him for who he is frightens him once more.

As he and Carl continued to walk, the ram continued on about his avatar in this virtual chat game of his. How he bought this “cool new luchador mask”, and how “all the girls in the game use the exact same hair style”. He even gave a remark on how he personally believed some of the girls aren’t necessarily “girls” but actually guys who chose the female option for their avatar’s gender. After talking about how he has this avatar in order to get attention, Carl then went to reassure Sydney that he has another account with a “normal-looking” avatar.

Right as he finished talking about his avatar, the two of them finally reached the Hendricks mansion, “The Castle” as Karen told them on the bus. Right as Carl reached the front gate, the two of them heard the sound of a vehicle drive up to the driveway. Flynn. The gila parked off to the side, and got out.

“Hey.” Said Flynn. Right as he said this, Carl turned to him, and almost jumped in surprise.

“Flynn?! I thought you work!” Carl interjected. Right as he said that, Flynn cocked his head to the side slightly in confusion.

“Called in sick. Didn’t Syd tell ya?” He then looked over to Sydney, who blushed slightly.

“I was just about to,” Sydney remarked, “but then you showed up sooner than I thought.”

“Well since you’re here, there’s actually a reason for me to order a pizza then!” Carl chimed in.

“You would’ve ordered one regardless of me and Syd were even here in the first place ya fatty.” While a bit rude, Flynn was right, at least according to the chuckles of both him and Carl.

Carl walked into his house, but right as Sydney was about to follow along, he felt a grip on his arm preventing him from moving forward.

“Hey, you ‘aint going nowhere before you tell me what the hell is going on with you.” Flynn stated.

Sydney felt a chill run up his spine as Flynn said that. He didn’t know how he wanted to tell the truth to him, even with Flynn being his best friend.

“I… I’ve… found something out…” Sydney said. At this point, his eyes began to tear up. He didn’t know how Flynn would take the news that he believes he’s gay.

“Uhh… yeah? What is it?” Flynn expectantly tilted his head, wondering what Sydney had to admit to him. 

“Well, uh… how do I put this…” Sydney constantly looked between Flynn, the ground, and Carl’s house.

“Yeah, spit it out already!” Flynn was starting to get annoyed at Sydney’s hesitation, and right then, right there, Sydney shouted at him.

“I’m gay Flynn! There, that’s what I’ve been meaning to tell you!” Flynn stepped back slightly at Sydney’s outburst.

For a brief while, there was nothing. Flynn and Sydney simply stood and stared at each other, tears in Sydney’s eyes. The only sound they could hear was the chirping of the crickets, and the door of Carl’s house opening.

“Uhhh, guys are you coming in here or wha-” Carl stood in shock at seeing the two of them.

He looked between the two of them, hoping to get some kind of answer. Some part of him knew that something went down between the two of them. Flynn turned to face him, and simply sighed.

“It’s a long story, Carl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK FINALLY I WAS ABLE TO GET THIS CHAPTER OUT!
> 
> Sorry everyone who was watching this wondering when the next chapter would be out. With college classes and work and what-not, I've been busy. But this is where things will start to diverge a little from Route 65 and Echo from now on. So hopefully, if people are still interested, you can look forward to what happens next!


End file.
